San Diego State, which was on the brink of becoming the school's first team to fail to win a conference game in 48 years, returns nine starters next season on both offense and defense.

Whether that news can be viewed as a harbinger of hope or construed as cause for concern is open to interpretation.

“I know there are brighter days ahead,” said coach Chuck Long. “It's been a difficult season, no question, but our young guys have really looked forward to getting on the field. Rather than getting caught up in the tough times we've gone through, they've looked at it as more of an opportunity to get a chance to play. They want to know when they're going to get their chance to get on the field.

“That's always a good sign. If we didn't have that, then you start to wonder about the morale of the football team. Obviously, you want your record to be better, but there are positives with the experience we have coming back.”

The Aztecs, who bid adieu to 17 seniors last night, have had 45 underclassmen see action this season. With the exception of receivers Darren Mougey and Justin Shaw and tailback Tyler Campbell, SDSU returns all of its skill players next season, including quarterback Ryan Lindley, who completed 35-of-50 passes for 387 yards and two touchdowns in last night's 42-21 win over UNLV.

Simultaneously, SDSU, among the nation's 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, also came into its season finale ranked 117th in rushing offense, 113th in scoring offense and 106th in total offense.

Defensively, where the team had seven linemen suffer season-ending injuries, the Aztecs were 119th against the rush, 116th in total defense, 114th in scoring defense, 113th in pass efficiency defense and 106th in sacks.

“When you've had a season like we've had, particularly with all the injuries, we've had more than 40 (underclassmen) play, and that does bode well for the future,” Long said. “When you look at next season as being Year 4 of our program, that's exactly the kind of experience we wanted at this point. It will be by far the most depth and experience we've ever had.”

Another early exit

As has been the case with every SDSU player since 1999, the team's exiting seniors took part in their final game last night having never participated in a bowl game. Those who were redshirt freshmen in 2004 were witness to 41 losses in 59 games.

“It's tough to send a class out without the success they wanted or dreamed about,” said Long, whose nine-win total after three years includes a mark of 3-0 against UNLV. “You want those guys to leave on a good note, to have something positive that they can look back on.

“Obviously, they didn't have a winning season, but they persevered. Of the 23 guys who were originally part of that class, only seven were left, and that took perseverance in itself. Three of those guys (Campbell, linebacker Russell Allen and wide receiver Darren Mougey) are going to get their master's degrees, and that's winning to me.

“As for the football part of things, they'll take these lessons with them, and when they go through adversity in life they'll be able to handle it and get through it. Each and every one of these seniors will be able to do that.”

Senior left guard Mike Schmidt, who was feared done for the season after suffering a knee injury and missing the previous two games, made his 24th career start last night.

Though team doctors had advised against it, Schmidt, whose injury was expected to idle him for 4-6 weeks, played the first two series and most of the second half.

“I woke up (yesterday morning) and it felt pretty good, but winning makes it feel even better,” said Schmidt, who began his career as a walk-on. “It was really important to me to be out there.”

Tackling the future

Because of a seemingly never-ending rash of injuries, SDSU abandoned practicing on Sundays over the final month of the season. Its lack of depth also curtailed virtually every drill involving tackling over the final six games.

“I want to be able to tackle more during the spring,” Long said. “We just haven't been able to do that because of lingering injuries after the season that has kept guys out of spring ball or has kept them in a noncontact situation, sometimes even into fall camp. We haven't done the kind of scrimmaging I want to do, and I want to change that. I want to get more tackling done, and our depth next year should allow us to do that.” Mick McGrane: (619) 293-1850; mick.mcgrane@uniontrib.com